Creamy butter beans
This creamy butter bean dish takes the humble ingredients of butter beans, leeks and tofu and makes them into a super flavourful weeknight meal that is delicious and nutritious.
The tender, creamy and slightly nutty giant butter beans pair perfectly with the creamy cheesy sauce and perfectly golden caramelised leeks. Topped with rich smokey tofu bacon lardons for a protein and flavour boost.
Its cheap, quick and easy to make- everything you need in a weeknight meal. This is comfort food at its finest and you wont believe its completely vegan.
Creamy butter beans with vegan bacon lardons ingredients and substitutes-
- Butter beans –Butter beans are a giant creamy white bean that go so well with cream sauces. You can use any tinned butter beans or if you fancy a luxury feel, bold beans queen butter beans are really high quality beans you could use to elevate this dish. Any other white beans would also work.
- Leeks – Leeks provide a subtle onion flavour that can be sweetened if caramelised. Caramelising leeks can take a while but they are worth it for the deep flavours they bring to this dish. You could leave the leeks out of this if you wish to.
- Smoked tofu – Extra firm pre smoked tofu works really well as bacon style lardons. You can also use plain extra firm tofu if you cant find smoked or just your favourite vegan bacon.
- Nutritional yeast- Nutritional yeast is what’s going to give the beans their cheesy flavour. Nutritional yeast or ‘nooch’ is a savoury, salty and nutty seasoning that can make vegan dishes taste cheesy. You can substitute this with vegan parmesan.
- Turmeric- Turmeric is used purely for colour in this dish to make it look ‘cheesy’. Its mild in flavour so works well in small doses to colour food. You can leave this out if you don’t mind what colour your beans are.
- Tomato puree- Tomato puree gives the tofu lardons a dark colour and deep rich flavour when mixed with the other seasonings.
- Maple syrup-Maple syrup is used for slight sweetness and stickiness. You can use agave instead if you like.
- Smoked paprika- What would a smokey dish be without smoked paprika? don’t skip this its essential to make our tofu bacony!
Creamy leek butter beans
Creamy, cheesy butter beans with the subtle hint of caramelised leeks topped with tofu bacon lardons.
Ingredients
- 700 g Butter beans cooked
- 2 Leeks
- 225 g Smoked tofu
- 30 g Nutritional yeast
- 200 ml Soy milk unsweetened
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Garlic granules
For the tofu marinade
- 1 tbsp Tomato puree
- 1 tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 tsp Garlic granules
- 1 tbsp Smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
Instructions
- Chop the tofu up in to little lardon shaped pieces.
- Add the marinade ingredients to a container and mix well.
- Add in the tofu pieces and stir well to coat.
- Air fry the tofu pieces on 180C for 8 minutes.
- Chop the leeks up into thin slices.
- To a large deep pan add a tablespoon of oil and add your leeks.
- Fry on a medium heat until leeks are completely soft then add in 2 tins of drained butter beans and turn the heat down low.
- Now to make the sauce add a one tin of drained butter beans to the cup of your blender with the nutritional yeast and soy milk and blend until smooth.
- Add this sauce to the butter bean leek mix.
- Add the salt, pepper, garlic granules and turmeric. Mix well to combine and heat the beans through.
- Serve up topped with some breadcrumbs and a generous sprinkle of the tofu bacon.
Notes
When blending the sauce its best to use a high speed blender to ensure a lump free sauce. I recommend to use one at least 700w+ for best results.
Cooking the tofu- You can air fry, bake or pan fry the tofu lardons. If frying be sure to do it in small batches to avoid the pieces sticking together.
Cooking the leeks- Leeks become lovely and sweet in flavour when caramelised so when cooking the leeks cook them low and slow to ensure they are cooked to perfection.
If you liked this recipe be sure to check out some of my other beans recipes!
Leave a Reply